Rapids students cook up a storm, prep for state competition

WISCONSIN RAPIDS (WAOW) -- Four Wisconsin Rapids high schoolers sharpen their skills for a cooking competition in Milwaukee on Tuesday. The students hope their three-course meal will taste like victory.

After months of preparation, the four Lincoln High School student chefs are ready to show off their skills in a state-wide cooking contest.

"Basically it's like an Iron Chef for kids," said senior Kendall Perrson. "We've got an hour to make three dishes: a starter, an entree and a dessert."

Their dishes feature an Asian-inspired theme, recipes the cooks said they've memorized and adjusted to fit their unique tastes. With just two butane burners and no other electrical equipment to share between the four of them, they said the entire process has been an adventure.

"There's different challenges everyday," said junior Sam Delaney, "whether it's messing something up or not measuring it right or you learn how to overcome the different challenges."

"We're in a confined space, like a ten by ten square," said Perrson. "So we're all like elbow-to-elbow with each other."

But they said working together has helped them grow closer to each other and over the past year, their friendships have ripened like the fruit on their rice pudding dessert.

Already looking ahead to life after Lincoln High, some said the road they want to take is paved with palette pleasers.

"I want to do this for my career," said senior Keely Sejbl. "So the pressure that it puts on me, the time limit and the difficulty."

With just sixty minutes to slice and dice their way to perfection, the chefs said they've got a lot on their plate.

"Spilling and cleaning up your mess, you have to worry about that too constantly," said junior Mercedes Marcouex.

Despite a few nervous jitters, the cooks are hungry for a good competition. And hope the judges ask them to serve up seconds.

The team will get a chance to serve up seconds if they win -- they'll head to a national competition. The team will compete against more than 20 other schools from around the state. They'll be judged on their three plates plus a knife skills test.